Content recommendations based on communal preferences

ABSTRACT

A method and system for recommending multimedia content includes collecting consumption information for a plurality of consumers. The consumption information may be used to generate collections of recommended multimedia content, including obtainable multimedia assets. The collections may be offered to a consumer for purchase. The consumer may be provided access to the multimedia assets. A unified storefront application, providing access to multimedia content via an Internet-protocol television portal, a web portal, and a mobile portal, may be used to offer and provide access to the multimedia assets.

The present patent application is a continuation of a previously filedpatent application, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/559,289, filedSep. 14, 2009, issuing as U.S. Pat. No. 9,280,543 on Mar. 8, 2016, whichis hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure relates to presenting assets related tomultimedia content and, more particularly, to providing recommendationsfor multimedia content.

Description of the Related Art

Modern multimedia content distribution networks provide a vast array ofmultimedia content assets to customers. Customers may be unaware ofcertain multimedia content available for purchase, or may havedifficulty selecting multimedia content, such as video-on-demand, from amyriad of choices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of selected elements of an embodiment of amultimedia content distribution network;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of selected elements of an embodiment of amultimedia content distribution network;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of selected elements of an embodiment of amultimedia content distribution network;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of selected elements of an embodiment of amultimedia content distribution network;

FIG. 5 is an embodiment of a method for presenting assets related tomultimedia content;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of selected elements of an embodiment of amultimedia content distribution network;

FIG. 7 is an embodiment of a method for recommending assets related tomultimedia content;

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a multimedia handling device;

FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of a method for recommending multimediacontent; and

FIG. 10 illustrates an embodiment of a method for recommendingmultimedia content.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

In one aspect, a disclosed method for recommending multimedia content ina unified storefront (USF) application of a multimedia contentdistribution network (MCDN) may include retrieving consumptioninformation collected for a plurality of users, wherein the consumptioninformation is associated with multimedia content provided over theMCDN, and using the consumption information to generate a collection ofrecommended multimedia content, including at least one obtainablemultimedia asset. The method may further include offering the collectionof recommended multimedia content to a user having a registered accountfor the MCDN, and making the offered collection accessible to the uservia at least one of: a web portal, an Internet-protocol television(IPTV) portal provided by the MCDN, and a mobile portal.

The consumption information may include rankings based on most purchasedmultimedia assets, most viewed multimedia assets, rated multimediaassets, or a combination thereof. The rated multimedia assets may beranked based on ratings provided by at least some of the plurality ofusers. The rankings may be determined from consumption informationcollected over a predefined time span.

The user may provide user input for purchasing a selected multimediaasset. The user may then be provided access to the multimedia asset viaat least one of: a web portal, an IPTV portal provided by the MCDN, anda mobile portal.

In yet another aspect, a disclosed method for recommending multimediacontent in a multimedia content distribution network (MCDN) may includeretrieving consumption information describing multimedia contentprovided by the MCDN that is associated with a user, and obtainingcontextual information describing a real-time interaction by the userwith the MCDN. Based on the consumption information and the contextualinformation, the method may further include generating recommendedmultimedia content including at least one obtainable multimedia asset,and making the recommended multimedia collection accessible to the uservia at least one of: a web portal, an Internet-protocol televisionportal provided by the MCDN, and a mobile portal. The user may beassociated with a registered account for the MCDN.

The consumption information may include includes information about atleast one of a browsing history, a viewing history, a recording history,a deletion history, and an MCDN account history. The contextualinformation may include information about at least one of: currentbrowsing, current viewing, current recording, and current MCDN accountactivity. The consumption information and/or the contextual informationmay be collected over a predefined time span. A USF application may beused to make the recommended multimedia content accessible.

Responsive to receiving user input to the USF application, the methodmay further include selecting for a purchase request a multimedia assetfrom the recommended multimedia content, and submitting the purchaserequest, wherein the purchase request includes billing information. Thebilling information may specify an MCDN account associated with theuser. In response to receiving approval for the purchase request, themethod may further include providing the user with access to theselected multimedia asset via at least one of: a web portal, anInternet-protocol television portal provided by the MCDN, and a mobileportal.

In some embodiments, an MCDN server may aggregate consumptioninformation and contextual information for a plurality of customerpremises equipment (CPE) clients, while maintaining a personalizedprofile for users of the plurality of CPE clients.

In a further aspect, a disclosed CPE for use within a clientconfiguration of an MCDN includes a processor, a network adapterconfigured to receive multimedia content, and memory media accessible tothe processor, including instructions executable by the processor. Theinstructions may be executable by the processor to execute a USFapplication, as described herein.

In yet another aspect, disclosed computer-readable memory media includeexecutable instructions for implementing an MCDN according to theoperations described herein. The instructions may be executable toimplement a recommendation engine, according to the operations describedherein.

In the following description, details are set forth by way of example tofacilitate discussion of the disclosed subject matter. It should beapparent to a person of ordinary skill in the field, however, that thedisclosed embodiments are exemplary and not exhaustive of all possibleembodiments.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a particular illustrative embodiment ofsystem 100 to present assets related to media content. System 100includes content source 102 that communicates with CPE 104 (which mayinclude, for example, a set-top box (STB) device) via network 106.Content source 102 includes a memory to store media content 114. CPE 104can receive input from remote control device 110 and can communicateaudio and video to display device 112. In a particular embodiment,network 106 may be a public network, such as the Internet, or a privateaccess network, such as an MCDN.

Content source 102 and CPE 104 can communicate with electronic storeserver 108 via network 106. Electronic store server 108 includes datarelated to one or more assets 116, which may be related to media content114. In an illustrative embodiment, server system 118 can include bothcontent source 102 and electronic store server 108, providing a singleinterface for media content distribution and for presenting assetsrelated to the media content.

In one embodiment, server system 118 receives a request for anelectronic storefront from a destination device, such as CPE 104. Serversystem 118 can identify media content received at CPE 104 based on therequest or based on data from content source 102. Server system 118 (orelectronic store server 108) can generate an electronic storefront thatincludes selectable indicators related to assets selected from assets116 based on the media content. In certain embodiments, assets 116 caninclude data related to physical assets and electronic assets that arerelated to the media content. For example, the physical assets mayinclude articles of clothing (hats, shirts, jackets, other articles ofclothing, or any combination thereof), posters (movie posters, actorphotographs, other images, or any combination thereof), soundtracks(e.g., compact discs (CDs)), other physical products, or any combinationthereof. The electronic assets can include digital wallpaper (movieimages, actor images, other images, or any combination thereof), ringtones (audio clips from media content, soundtrack clips, other audioclips, or any combination thereof), downloadable soundtracks, Video onDemand (VOD) content, video clips, other electronic assets, or anycombination thereof. In general, each of the assets may have differentassociated access rights. For example, a ring tone electronic asset mayallow unrestricted use of the ring tone after purchase, while a moviedownload may allow a limited number of viewings or unlimited access fora period of time.

In a particular illustrative embodiment, server system 118 generates anelectronic storefront including a graphical user interface (GUI). TheGUI includes multiple selectable indicators related to assets that areassociated with media content that is received at CPE 104. Server system118 can target specific assets to CPE 104 based on media contentreceived at CPE 104.

In some embodiments, the GUI may include information describing selectedassets 116 or describing a plurality of purchase options related to theselected assets. The information may be personalized to a user orsubscriber of CPE 104. In another particular embodiment, the informationdescribing the asset or the information describing the plurality ofpurchase options may be personalized to an account associated with CPE104.

In an embodiment, server system 118 may provide a plurality of purchaseoptions, including non-exclusive offers and exclusive customized offers.The exclusive customized offers may be based on past purchase history,viewing history, geographic location, length of service with a serviceprovider, time of day, an account status, a type of account, or anycombination thereof. The non-exclusive offers or the exclusive offersmay be based on a sponsorship setting of a particular televisionprogram, a sponsorship of a particular television channel, or asponsorship of the television program service. For example, thesponsorship setting may include information about television advertisersthat have certain interactive features associated with their advertisingcontent or with other television content. In some cases, advertisers mayassociate with this advertising content interactive features such as:information gathering interactive features (e.g., polls); entertainmentinteractive features (e.g., games); informative interactive features(e.g., product information queries); product request interactivefeatures (e.g., order forms); or any combination thereof.

In another illustrative embodiment, the information describing an assetmay include information related to a promotion. For example, serversystem 118 may be adapted to cross-sell products for a particularpromotion. The promotion may be directed to a particular movie, such asKing Kong, where particular regions may be targeted for the promotion.Subscribers in San Antonio, Tex., for example, may receive discountedpricing for accessing the movie “King Kong.” Such pricing promotions maybe used to entice viewers to access such services.

In one embodiment, the promotion may have specific assets associatedwith it, such as a particular movie. The particular promotion mayinclude multiple related assets, such as the movie and products relatedto the movie, such as t-shirts, baseball hats, coffee cups, shotglasses, CDs, other paraphernalia, or any combination thereof.Additionally, the promotion may include multiple related electronicassets, such as video clips, computer desktop wallpaper, a downloadablesoundtrack, ring tones for a mobile phone, other electronic assets, orany combination thereof. Further, the promotion may include a discountedsubscription service, such as an option to modify a subscriptionassociated with the destination device to add a movie channel package,to subscribe to a number of VOD movies per month, another service, orany combination thereof.

More than one promotion may be associated with a particular asset. In aparticular embodiment, multiple promotions from more than one assetprovider may be included in assets 116, and multiple purchase optionsmay be provided for accessing selected assets. In a particularembodiment, server system 118 may provide an interactive feature todirect a customer to an asset that is associated with a particularpromotion. For example, if destination CPE 104 is associated with asubscriber in the San Antonio, Tex. area, server system 118 may providea GUI that includes multiple promotional offers that are available to aparticular subscriber. Server system 118 may provide a feature thatallows CPE 104 to provide a display of a best promotional offer (e.g.lowest price, largest number of related assets, popular promotionaloptions based on selections by other subscribers, other criteria, or anycombination thereof). In one illustrative embodiment, server system 118may recommend a particular payment option from multiple availablepayment options. The recommendation may be based on the subscriberaccount associated with CPE 104, based on an active promotion, based onpayment option expiration (such as an expiration date associated with apayment coupon or credit), or any combination thereof.

In an illustrative embodiment, CPE 104 may receive data that can beexecuted by a processor to generate a GUI, which may be provided todisplay device 112. The GUI can include multiple purchasable assets ofdifferent types and multiple related purchase options. CPE 104 mayreceive an input related to one or more of the multiple purchasableassets and an associated purchase option via remote control device 110.CPE 104 can send a request to server system 118 that is related to theinput.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an illustrative embodiment of MCDN system200 that may be used to present assets related to multimedia content.Although multimedia content is not limited to TV, VOD, or pay-per-view(PPV) programs, the depicted embodiments of MCDN system 200 and itscapabilities are primarily described herein with reference to thesetypes of multimedia content, which are interchangeably referred toherein as “multimedia content”, “multimedia content programs”,“multimedia programs” or, simply, “programs.”

The elements of MCDN system 200 illustrated in FIG. 2 depict networkembodiments with functionality for delivering multimedia content to aset of one or more users. It is noted that different embodiments of MCDNsystem 200 may include additional elements or systems (not shown in FIG.2 for clarity) as desired for additional functionality, such as dataprocessing systems for billing, content management, customer support,operational support, or other business applications.

As shown, system 200 can include client-facing tier 202, applicationtier 204, acquisition tier 206, and operations and management tier 208.Each tier 202, 204, 206, 208 is coupled to private network 210; topublic network 212, such as the Internet; or to both private network 210and public network 212. For example, client-facing tier 202 can becoupled to the private network 210. Further, application tier 204 can becoupled to private network 210 and to public network 212. Acquisitiontier 206 can also be coupled to private network 210 and to publicnetwork 212. Additionally, operations and management tier 208 can becoupled to public network 212.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the various tiers 202, 204, 206, 208communicate with each other via private network 210 and the publicnetwork 212. For instance, client-facing tier 202 can communicate withapplication tier 204 and acquisition tier 206 via private network 210.Application tier 204 can communicate with acquisition tier 206 viaprivate network 210. Further, application tier 204 can communicate withacquisition tier 206 and operations and management tier 208 via publicnetwork 212. Moreover, acquisition tier 206 can communicate withoperations and management tier 208 via public network 212. In aparticular embodiment, elements of application tier 204, including, butnot limited to, client gateway 250, can communicate directly withclient-facing tier 202.

Client-facing tier 202 can communicate with user equipment via accessnetwork 266. In an illustrative embodiment, CPE clients 214, 222 can becoupled to a local switch, router, or other device of the access network266. Client-facing tier 202 may communicate with a first representativeSTB device via first CPE client 214 and with a second representative STBdevice via second CPE client 222 (STB devices not explicitly shown inFIG. 2). In a particular embodiment, first CPE client 214 can be locatedat a first customer premise, and second CPE client 222 can be located ata second customer premise. In another particular embodiment, the firstrepresentative STB device and the second representative STB device canbe located at a single customer premise, both coupled to one of CPEclients 214, 222. CPE clients 214, 222 can include routers, local areanetwork devices, modems, such as digital subscriber line (DSL) modems,any other suitable devices for facilitating communication between a STBdevice and access network 266, or any combination thereof.

In an exemplary embodiment, client-facing tier 202 can be coupled to CPEclients 214, 222 via fiber optic cables. In another exemplaryembodiment, CPE clients 214, 222 can include DSL modems that are coupledto one or more network nodes via twisted pairs, and client-facing tier202 can be coupled to the network nodes via fiber-optic cables. CPEclients 214, 222 may be configured to process data received via theaccess network 266, such as multimedia content provided by elements ofMCDN system 200.

CPE clients 214, 222 can include MCDN STB devices; video gaming devicesor consoles that are adapted to receive MCDN content; personal computersor other computing devices that are adapted to emulate STB devicefunctionalities; any other device adapted to receive MCDN content andtransmit data to an MCDN system via an access network; or anycombination thereof.

In an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment, CPE clients 214, 222 canreceive data, video, or any combination thereof, from client-facing tier202 via access network 266 and render or display the data, video, or anycombination thereof, at display device, to which it is coupled. In anillustrative embodiment, CPE clients 214, 222 can include tuners thatreceive and decode television programming signals or packet streams fortransmission to display devices, such as TV monitors. Further, CPEclients 214, 222 may include a processor and a memory device (not shownin FIG. 2) that is accessible to the processor. In one embodiment, thememory device may store executable instructions, such as embodied by acomputer program.

In an illustrative embodiment, client-facing tier 202 may include ameans for communicating between client-facing tier 202 and accessnetwork 266 and between client-facing tier 202 and private network 210.In one example, the communication means in client-facing tier 202 may bea network switch or sub-system (not shown in FIG. 2) that is coupled toone or more data servers, such as D-servers 232, that store, format,encode, replicate, or otherwise manipulate or prepare video content forcommunication from client-facing tier 202 to CPE clients 214, 222. Thecommunication means in client-facing tier 202 can also be coupled toterminal server 234 that provides terminal devices with a point ofconnection to MCDN system 200 via client-facing tier 202. In aparticular embodiment, communication means in client-facing tier 202 canbe coupled to VOD server 236 that stores or provides VOD contentimported by MCDN system 200. Further, the communication means inclient-facing tier 202 may be coupled to one or more video servers 280that receive video content and transmit the content to CPE clients 214,222 via access network 266. The communication means in client-facingtier 202 can also be coupled to electronic store server 282 that storesand provides data related to purchasable assets to user devices, such asCPE clients 214, 222.

In an illustrative embodiment, client-facing tier 202 can communicatewith a large number of clients, such as representative CPE clients 214,222, over a wide geographic area, such as a metropolitan area, a viewingarea, a statewide area, a regional area, a nationwide area or any othersuitable geographic area, market area, or subscriber or customer groupthat can be supported by networking client-facing tier 202 to numerousCPE clients. In a particular embodiment, the communication means inclient-facing tier 202, or any portion thereof, can include a multicastrouter or switch that communicates with multiple CPE clients via amulticast-enabled network.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, application tier 204 can communicate with bothprivate network 210 and public network 212. Application tier 204 caninclude a means for communicating that can be coupled to applicationserver 242 and to operations systems and support/billing systems andsupport (OSS/BSS) gateway 244. In a particular embodiment, applicationserver 242 can provide applications to CPE clients 214, 222 via accessnetwork 266, which enable CPE clients 214, 222 to provide functions,such as interactive program guides, video gaming, display, messaging,processing of VOD material and other MCDN multimedia content, etc. In anillustrative embodiment, application server 242 can provide locationinformation to CPE clients 214, 222. In a particular embodiment, OSS/BSSgateway 244 includes OSS data, as well as BSS data. In one embodiment,OSS/BSS gateway 244 can provide or restrict access to OSS/BSS server 264that stores operations and billing systems data.

The means for communicating in application tier 204 can be coupled todomain controller 246 that provides Internet access, for example, tousers at their computers 268 via the public network 212. For example,domain controller 246 can provide remote Internet access to IPTV accountinformation, e-mail, personalized Internet services, or other onlineservices via public network 212. In addition, the means forcommunicating in application tier 204 can be coupled to subscriber andsystem store 248 that includes account information, such as accountinformation that is associated with users who access MCDN system 200 viaprivate network 210 or public network 212. In an illustrativeembodiment, subscriber and system store 248 can store subscriber orcustomer data and create subscriber or customer profiles that areassociated with IP addresses, stock-keeping unit (SKU) numbers, otheridentifiers, or any combination thereof, of corresponding CPE clients214, 222. In another illustrative embodiment, the subscriber and systemstore can store data associated with capabilities of STB devicesassociated with particular customers.

In a particular embodiment, application tier 204 can include clientgateway 250 that communicates data directly to client-facing tier 202.In this embodiment, client gateway 250 can be coupled directly toclient-facing tier 202. Client gateway 250 can provide user access toprivate network 210 and other tiers coupled thereto. In an illustrativeembodiment, CPE clients 214, 222 can access MCDN system 200 via accessnetwork 266, using information received from client gateway 250. Userdevices can access client gateway 250 via access network 266, and clientgateway 250 can allow such devices to access private network 210 oncethe devices are authenticated or verified. Similarly, client gateway 250can prevent unauthorized devices, such as hacker computers or stolen CPEfrom accessing private network 210, by denying access to these devicesbeyond access network 266.

For example, when a first representative CPE client 214 accessesclient-facing tier 202 via access network 266, client gateway 250 canverify subscriber information by communicating with subscriber andsystem store 248 via private network 210. Further, client gateway 250can verify billing information and status by communicating with OSS/BSSgateway 244 via private network 210. In one embodiment, OSS/BSS gateway244 can transmit a query via public network 212 to OSS/BSS server 264.After client gateway 250 confirms subscriber and/or billing information,client gateway 250 can allow CPE client 214 to access MCDN content andVOD content at client-facing tier 202. If client gateway 250 cannotverify subscriber information for CPE client 214, e.g., because it isconnected to an unauthorized twisted pair, client gateway 250 can blocktransmissions to and from CPE client 214 beyond access network 266.

In FIG. 2, acquisition tier 206 may include a means for communication(not shown in FIG. 2) with private network 210, that can alsocommunicate with operations and management tier 208 via public network212. In a particular embodiment, the communication means in acquisitiontier 206 can be coupled to live acquisition server 254 that receives oracquires television content, movie content, advertisement content, othervideo content, or any combination thereof, from broadcast service 256,such as a satellite acquisition system or satellite head-end office. Ina particular embodiment, live acquisition server 254 can transmitcontent to the communication means in acquisition tier 206, which cantransmit the content to client-facing tier 202 via private network 210.

In an illustrative embodiment, multimedia content can be transmitted toD-servers 232, where it can be encoded, formatted, stored, replicated,or otherwise manipulated and prepared for communication from videoserver(s) 280 to CPE clients 214, 222. Client-facing tier 202 canreceive content from video server(s) 280 and communicate the content toCPE 214, 222 via access network 266. STB devices can receive the contentvia CPE 214, 222, and can transmit multimedia content to televisionmonitors (not shown in FIG. 2). In an illustrative embodiment, video oraudio portions of the multimedia content can be streamed to CPE clients214, 222.

Further, acquisition tier 206 can be coupled to a VOD importer server258 that receives and stores television or movie content received atacquisition tier 206 and communicates the stored content to VOD server236 at client-facing tier 202 via private network 210. Additionally, atacquisition tier 206, VOD importer server 258 can receive content fromone or more VOD sources outside MCDN system 200, such as movie studiosand programmers of non-live content. VOD importer server 258 cantransmit the VOD content to acquisition tier 206, which can communicatethe material to client-facing tier 202 via private network 210. The VODcontent can be stored at one or more servers, such as VOD server 236.

When users issue requests for VOD content via CPE clients 214, 222, therequests can be transmitted over access network 266 to VOD server 236,via client-facing tier 202. Upon receiving such requests, VOD server 236can retrieve the requested VOD content and transmit the content to CPEclients 214, 222 across access network 266. In an illustrativeembodiment, video or audio portions of VOD content can be streamed toCPE clients 214, 222.

In FIG. 2, operations and management tier 208 can include a means forcommunication (not shown in FIG. 2) that conducts communication betweenoperations and management tier 208 and public network 212. Thecommunication means in operations and management tier 208 may be coupledto TV2 server 262. Additionally, communication means in operations andmanagement tier 208 can be coupled to OSS/BSS server 264 and to simplenetwork management protocol (SNMP) monitor 286 that monitors networkdevices within or coupled to MCDN system 200. In a particularembodiment, the communication means in operations and management tier208 can communicate with acquisition tier 206 via public network 212.

In an illustrative embodiment, live acquisition server 254 can transmitcontent to acquisition tier 206, which can transmit the content tooperation and management tier 208 via public network 212. In thisembodiment, the operation and management tier 208 can transmit thecontent to TV2 server 262 for display to users accessing the userinterface at TV2 server 262. For example, a user can access TV2 server262 using personal computer 268 coupled to public network 212.

In a particular illustrative embodiment, client-facing tier 202 canprovide media content, such as video content, to CPE client 214. Themedia content can include a selectable trigger, which may be provided byCPE client 214 to a display device as a popup within a video display.Client-facing tier 202 may receive data related to selection of theselectable trigger. In response to receiving the data, electronic storeserver 282 may provide a GUI including an electronic storefront to CPEclient 214 for display at a display device, such as a TV monitor (notshown in FIG. 2). The electronic storefront can include data related tomultiple purchasable assets as well as multiple options for purchasingone or more of the assets.

In another particular illustrative embodiment, CPE client 214 receivesmedia content including an embedded trigger. CPE client 214 identifiesthe embedded trigger and provides a popup to TV monitor that is relatedto the embedded trigger. The popup can include information related to aparticular promotion and an invitation to access an electronicstorefront. A user may utilize a remote control device to request theelectronic storefront. CPE client 214 may receive an input from theremote control device and transmit a request to client-facing tier 202for the electronic storefront. The request may include an identifierrelated to the selected media content, an identifier related to CPEclient 214, an account identifier associated with CPE client 214, anidentifier associated with the electronic storefront, or any combinationthereof. In a particular embodiment, in response to sending the request,CPE client 214 may receive a GUI that includes an electronic storefrontthat has multiple purchasable assets and multiple selectable paymentoptions. CPE client 214 may provides the GUI to TV monitor 226. In oneembodiment, CPE client 214 can receive data that can be executed by aprocessor to generate a GUI that includes an electronic storefront thathas multiple purchasable assets and multiple selectable payment options.CPE client 214 can provide the generated GUI to a display device fordisplay. A user may utilize a remote control device to purchase one ormore assets and to select a payment option related to the purchase. CPEclient 214 may send an asset identifier and purchase information toE-store server 282 for fulfillment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a third particular illustrative embodimentof system 300 to present assets related to media content. System 300includes server system 302 that communicates with CPE at a clientsystem, represented in FIG. 3 by STB device 304, via network 306, whichmay be the public Internet or an MCDN. Server system 302 includesinterface 316 to network 306, processing logic 314 and memory 312 thatis accessible to processing logic 314.

In a particular embodiment, memory 312 includes media contentidentification module 318 that can be executed by processing logic 314to identify media content received at STB device 304. Media contentidentification module 318 may also be used to transmit media content toSTB device 304. The media content may include an embedded selectabletrigger, which can be executed at STB device 304 to generate a popupwithin the video at display device 310. Memory 312 may also includeelectronic store (e-store) identification module 320 that can beexecuted by processing logic 314 to identify assets. E-storeidentification module 320 may also be executed by processing logic 314to generate an electronic storefront, including a GUI presenting theidentified assets. Memory 312 may also include STB communication module322 that can be executed by processing logic 314 to communicate with STBdevice 304 to receive requests for an electronic storefront related tomedia content and to communicate the generated electronic storefront toSTB device 304. In a particular illustrative embodiment, STBcommunication module 322 may also receive data related to purchaseorders and payment option selections from STB device 304.

STB device 304 may includes interface 324 to network 306. STB device 304may also include processor 326 coupled to interface 324 and memory 328that is accessible to processor 326. STB device 304 may also includeremote control interface 330 that communicates with remote controldevice 308 and display device interface 332 that communicates withdisplay device 310. In a particular embodiment, memory 328 includesmedia content module 334 that is executable by processor 326 to receivemedia content from server system 302 (or from another content source)via network 306. Memory 328 may include trigger selection module 336that is executable by processor 326 to identify an embedded selectabletrigger within the media content and to generate a selectable popupwithin the video at the display device based on the embedded trigger.Trigger selection module 336 may also be executed by processor 326 toreceive a selection related to the selectable popup via remote controldevice 308 and to communicate data related to the selection to serversystem 302 via the network. Memory 328 may also include GUI module 338that is executable by processor 326 to receive instructions related toan electronic storefront and to generate a GUI that can be provided todisplay device 310 that includes one or more selectable indicatorsrelated to purchasable assets.

In a particular illustrative embodiment, e-store module 320 may beexecuted to select an electronic storefront from a plurality of storedelectronic storefronts based on media content received at STB device304. In another particular illustrative embodiment, e-storeidentification module 320 can be executed to generate the electronicstorefront dynamically, such that the GUI includes an electronicstorefront having a first selectable element related to a first assetand a second selectable element related to a second asset (both selectedbased on the media content). The GUI can also include multiple paymentoptions that are related to a first selectable element and a secondselectable element. In a particular illustrative embodiment, themultiple payment options can include an electronic coupon paymentoption, account billing option to bill a subscriber account associatedwith the destination device (i.e., the STB device), a credit cardoption, a debit card option, other payment options, or any combinationthereof.

In a particular illustrative embodiment, the STB device 304 receivesmedia content including an embedded trigger from server system 302. STBdevice 304 identifies the embedded trigger and provides the mediacontent and a popup based on the embedded trigger to display device 310.STB device 304 receives an input from remote control device 308 that isrelated to the popup. STB device 304 sends a request to server system302 based on the input. The request may include an identifier related tothe media content, an identifier associated with STB device 304, asubscriber account identifier, an electronic storefront identifier,other information, or any combination thereof. STB device 304 receivesdata related to an electronic storefront based on the request, andprovides a user interface to display device 310 that includes theelectronic storefront. The electronic storefront includes one or moreselectable indicators related to purchasable assets. The electronicstorefront also includes one or more payment options for purchasingselected assets. STB device 304 receives a selection of at least oneindicator and a selected payment option and sends data related to theselection and the selected payment option to server system 302 tocomplete a purchase transaction.

In a particular embodiment, if the purchased asset is an electronicasset, server system 302 may provide instructions for downloading theasset, may send the purchased asset, may perform other actions, or anycombination thereof. If the purchased asset is a tangible object, serversystem 302 may transmit a purchase order fulfillment request to afulfillment center (not shown) to complete the packaging and shipping ofthe purchased asset. Server system 302 may also notify an inventorysystem (not shown) to update inventory data based on the purchase.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an illustrative embodiment of system 400 topresent assets related to media content. System 400 may include singlesign on (SSO) interface 408 to communicate with one or more of aplurality of access points at access portal module 402. The accesspoints may include representative access points, such as IPTV portal410, web portal 412, and mobile device portal 414. Access portal module402 also includes portal agnostic storefront application 416. Portalagnostic (also referred to herein as “unified”) storefront application416 may send data related to a storefront display via the various accessportals 410, 412, 414 to a user device that is signed on via SSOinterface 408.

System 400 also includes content management and aggregation module 404having content manager 430, offer engine 440 and administration device490. Administration device 490 may communicate with content managementand aggregation module 404, fulfillment and delivery module 406, andaccess portal module 402 to allow administrative configuration of eachmodule. For example, administrative device 490 may be used to establishoffer management rules stored at rules and conditions database 442. Inanother example, administrative device 490 may be used to configure astorefront display provided via access portal module 402. In anotherexample, administrative device 490 may be used to configure fulfillmentand delivery module 406.

In a particular embodiment, content manager 430 includes content catalogand publication module 432, which may identify assets that are availableto be offered for sale. For example, content delivery and managementmodule 434 may query content providers, such as content providers 476,to identify assets that are available for purchase. Catalog andpublication module 432 may process data received from content providers476 to identify metadata related to available assets, such as adescription of the content of an asset, a format of the asset, a type ofthe asset, a cost of the asset, other information about the asset, orany combination thereof. Catalog and publication module 432 may providecatalog publication output 420 to portal agnostic storefront application416 identifying the available assets. Catalog and publication module 432may also provide information identifying the available assets to offerengine 440 to allow offer rules related to the assets to be configured.

In a particular embodiment, content manager 430 may also include contentdelivery and management module 434. Content delivery and managementmodule 434 may manage delivery of purchased assets to user devices. Forexample, content delivery and management module 434 may receive paymentinformation for the purchase of an asset via portal agnostic storefrontapplication 416. Content delivery and management module 434 may send anaccess grant message to a content provider after payment for an assethas been received and approved. The grant message may authorize thecontent provider to send the content of the purchased asset to thepurchasing user device or another user device.

In a particular embodiment, content manager 430 may also include userdatabase 436. User database 436 may include user data, such asdemographic information and geographic information. User database 436may be utilized to establish promotional offers, to identify subscribersto which promotional offers should be made, to implement offer rules,and so forth. For example, offer engine 440 may access user database 436in order to determine whether a particular offer applies to a particularsubscriber based on the subscriber data.

In a particular embodiment, content manager 430 may also include licenserights module 438. License rights module 438 may implement rules toensure the license rights associated with digital assets are compliedwith. For example, license rights module 438 may ensure that royaltiesassociated with digital assets are paid. In another example, licenserights module 438 may determine an amount owed to a content provider orthird party resulting from the purchase of a digital asset.

In a particular embodiment, fulfillment and delivery module 406 mayinclude a variety of fulfillment modules including mobile module 470,third party content module 472, web module 474, dedicated contentprovider module 476 and IPTV module 478. Fulfillment modules 470, 472,474, 476 and 478 provide data identifying assets available for purchaseto content manager 430. In a particular embodiment, fulfillment modules470, 472, 474, 476 and 478 may also send data including the content of apurchased asset to a user device.

In a particular embodiment, fulfillment and delivery module 406 mayinclude one or more transaction application modules, such as billingmediation module 480, billing applications module 482, partnersettlement module 484, and payment suggestion system 486. Billingmediation module 480 may receive data related to the purchase of assets,e.g., billing events data, from content manager 430 and may determine acharge for the purchase based on the data. Billing mediation module 480may pass data related to the purchase to billing applications module482. Billing applications module 482 may prepare a bill to charge asubscriber for the purchase of an asset. For example, billingapplication module 482 may add the charge to a unified subscriber billfor communication services, such as wireless telephone service,telephone service, television service (e.g., IPTV service), Internetaccess service, other communication services, or any combinationthereof.

In a particular embodiment, partner settlement module 484 may receiveinformation associated with the purchase of an asset from contentmanager 430. Partner settlement module 484 may process the purchaseinformation to determine an amount owed to another party, such as acontent provider, license rights holder, fulfillment agent, or otherparty as a result of the purchase. Partner settlement module 484 mayexecute payment of the owed amount or pass information related to theowed amount to a payment system.

In a particular embodiment, payment suggestion system 486 may alsoreceive data from content manager 430 related to the purchase of anasset. The purchase information may include a purchase price andinformation about the user. Payment suggestion system 486 may determineavailable payment options for the user, such as a charge to the user'saccount (e.g., a communication services account), payment by creditcard, payment by electronic funds transfer, other payment options, orany combination thereof.

Content management and aggregation module 404 may communicate withfulfillment and delivery module 406 via a plurality of communicationlinks. Representative examples of the communication links may includedelivery, dispatch and tracking communication links 450, 452, 454,content discovery communication link 456, video content discovery link458, and IPTV access grant communication link 460. In addition, contentmanagement and aggregation module 404 may communicate with thetransaction application modules of fulfillment and delivery module 406via billing event communication link 462, partner settlementcommunication link 464 and credit check and payment authorizationcommunication link 466.

Content manager 430 may communicate with portal agnostic storefrontapplication 416 via a plurality of communication links 420, 422, 424,426 and 428. Representative examples of the communication links mayinclude catalog publication communication link 420 to provideinformation about available assets, purchase request/confirmationcommunication link 422 to communicate purchase and purchase confirmationinformation, grant access communication link 426 to communicate accessgrants, and payment request confirmation communication link 424 tocommunicate payment request and confirmation information. In addition,offer engine 440 may communicate with portal agnostic storefrontapplication 416, for example, via advice of change (AOC) communicationlink 428.

During operation of a particular embodiment, content manager 430 mayprepare a catalog of assets available for purchase and provide thecatalog of assets to administration device 490 for configuration ofoffer rules and conditions related to the assets. Offer engine 440 mayimplement the offer rules and conditions to promote the assets in thecatalog via a storefront display sent to user devices via portalagnostic storefront application 416. Content manager 430 may receiverequests for purchase of such assets via portal agnostic (i.e., unified)storefront application 416. Offer engine 440 may provide an AOC to thesubscriber associated with the purchase via portal agnostic storefrontapplication 416. If the subscriber approves the charge, content manager430 may send payment information to transaction application modules 480,482, 484, 486 and may communicate with fulfillment and delivery module406 in order to fulfill the purchase.

In a particular embodiment, after purchase of the asset, portal agnosticstorefront application 416 may provide the content of the electronicasset via a suitable interface based on the asset type. For example, anIPTV-related asset may be provided via IPTV portal 410, an Internetasset may be available via web portal 412, and a mobile asset may beavailable via mobile portal 414. In certain embodiments, electronicassets may be offered and/or made available by at least one of IPTVportal 410, web portal 412, and mobile portal 414. That is, the sameelectronic asset may be made available via different portals 410, 412,414. Additionally, content manager 430 may interact with fulfillment anddelivery module 406 to provide billing information necessary to bill thesubscriber for the asset purchase and to pay content providers or othersthird parties for the transaction.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a particular illustrative embodiment ofmethod 500 for presenting assets related to media content. A contentstream may be received at an STB device (operation 502). The STB devicemay intercept an embedded trigger (operation 504). The STB device mayprompt a user to navigate to an electronic storefront, also known astriggered shopping (operation 506). If the user does not respond (i.e.,a time out occurs) or if the user rejects the prompt, the method mayreturn to operation 502. If the user accepts the prompt, the STB devicemay retrieve a list of assets associated with the trigger (operation508). The STB device may provide a browse page (GUI) including theassociated assets to a display device (operation 510). The STB devicemay monitor the shopping experience (operation 512). A decision may bemade by the STB device if the user is done shopping (operation 514). Ifthe result of the decision is NO, the method may return to operation 512and the STB device may continue to monitor the shopping experience. Ifthe result of the decision is YES, the customer is done shopping, themethod may advance to operation 502.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an illustrative embodiment of system 600 topresent recommendations for assets related to media content. System 600may include access points module 602, content management and aggregationmodule 604, fulfillment and delivery module 606, and data warehousingsystems 608, as will be described in detail below. It is noted thatcertain elements depicted in system 600 are similar to correspondingelements in system 400 (see FIG. 4).

System 600 may include one or more of a plurality of access points inaccess points module 602, which may include IPTV access point 610, webaccess point 612, and mobile device access point 614. Access pointsmodule 602 may also include USF application 616. USF application 616 maysend data related to a storefront display via access points 610, 612,and 614 to a user device that is signed on, for example with aregistered account for an MCDN.

Access points module 602 may communicate with content management andaggregation module 604 via a plurality of communication links. Inparticular, access points module 602 may transfer user input along withcorresponding displayed information for browsing, searching andtransacting content, represented in FIG. 6 as 622, with contentmanagement and aggregation module 604. In some embodiments, 622 mayrepresent information exchanged via a user interface provided by USFapplication 616. In addition, user demographic survey information 624,along with consumption information for a user of USF application 616,may be communicated between modules 602 and 604.

System 600 may also include content management and aggregation module604 having commerce engine 630, recommendation engine 642 andadministration device 690. Administration device 690 may communicatewith content management and aggregation module 604, fulfillment anddelivery module 606, and access portal module 602 to allowadministrative configuration of each module. For example, administrativedevice 690 may be used to provision demographic surveys for obtainingconsumption information. In another example, administrative device 690may be used to configure a storefront display, such as a USF display,provided via access point module 602. In another example, administrativedevice 690 may be used to configure fulfillment and delivery module 606.

In a particular embodiment, commerce engine 630 includes content catalogand publication module 632, which may identify assets that are availableto be offered for sale. For example, content delivery and managementmodule 634 may query content providers, such as the content provider676, to identify assets that are available for purchase. Catalog andpublication module 632 may also provide information identifying theavailable assets to offer management 640 to allow offer rules related tothe assets to be configured. Commerce engine 630 may also includecontent delivery and management module 634. Content delivery andmanagement module 634 may manage delivery of purchased assets to userdevices. Content delivery and management module 634 may send an accessgrant message to a content provider after payment for an asset has beenreceived and approved by payment management 636. The grant message mayauthorize the content provider to send the content of the purchasedasset to the purchasing user device or another user device. Commerceengine 630 may also include licensed rights module 638. Licensed rightsmodule 638 may implement rules to ensure the license rights associatedwith digital assets are complied with. Licensed rights module 638 mayobtain licenses from third-parties via licensing module 674.

In a particular embodiment, fulfillment and delivery module 606 mayinclude a variety of fulfillment modules including content provider anddelivery module 676, billing systems 672, and licensing module 674.Fulfillment and delivery module 606 may include one or more transactionapplication modules, such as billing systems module 672. Billing systemsmodule 672 may receive data related to the purchase of assets, e.g.,billing events data, and may determine a charge for the purchase basedon the data. Billing systems module 672 may prepare a bill to charge asubscriber for the purchase of an asset. In one example, billing systemsmodule 672 may add the charge to a unified subscriber bill forcommunication services, such as wireless telephone service, telephoneservice, television service (e.g., IPTV service), Internet accessservice, other communication services, or any combination thereof.Licensing module 674 may enforce licenses and encode content to preventunauthorized access.

Content management and aggregation module 604 may communicate withfulfillment and delivery module 606 via a plurality of communicationlinks. Representative examples of the communication links may includecontent discovery communication link 652 and rights managementcommunication link 654.

During operation of a particular embodiment, commerce engine 630 mayprepare a catalog of assets available for purchase, includingrecommendations for content provided by recommendation engine 642. Inparticular, commerce engine 630 may forward real-time context data 644related to current activity by a user of USF application 616 torecommendation engine 642. Recommendation engine 642 may collectreal-time context data 644, along with other consumption information, indata collection 650. Recommendation engine 642 may forward contents ofdata collection 650 for aggregation by data warehousing systems 608.Data collection 650 may include metadata for multimedia content indexedto a user profile, representing personalized preferences which may beused to generate recommended collections of multimedia content,represented by personalized content recommendations 646. The consumptioninformation used at least in part to generate the collection may dependon a geographical location of the user, a time of day, consumerinformation, or a combination thereof.

Recommendation engine 642 may also provide recommendations for users forwhich personalized profiles are not available, for example, new userswho may not have a substantial consumption history. Data collection 650may be used to retrieve collections of recommended content from datawarehousing systems 608 based on consumption information for a pluralityof users representing a subscriber base of an MCDN system. For example,the consumption information may include a ranking of most purchasedcontent, most viewed or played content, and highest rated content. Thehighest rated content may be evaluated based on ratings provided by theplurality of users. The rankings may be compiled and provided tocommerce engine 630 by recommendation engine 642 in the form of toplists of content 648.

It is noted that either personalized content recommendations 646 or toplists of content 648 may be VOD programs categorized according to anumber of criteria, including, but not limited to: genre, studio,duration, era or release year, sales revenue, language, media-type orformat, performer, director, producer, investor, author, shootinglocation, trade association rating, content warnings, crew members,award information, and any combination thereof.

Still further, recommendation engine 642 may use voluntarily provideddemographic information, such as customer demographic survey responses624, to generate content recommendations 646 or top lists of content648. The demographic information may be provided by a user of USFapplication 616, who may also be referred to as a consumer of themultimedia assets provided. The demographic information may includeconsumption information, including, but not limited to: user favorites,birth date or age of the user, user gender, user geographic information,user socio-economic information, user family information, user politicalinformation, user ratings for multimedia content, and any combinationthereof.

The recommended collections of multimedia content, including at leastone obtainable multimedia asset, may be presented to the user via USFapplication 616. The presentation may be in the form of a GUI,configured to allow selection and purchase of rights to multimediaassets. As used herein, “obtainable” describes multimedia assets forwhich certain rights are available, or may be offered for purchase, to auser (e.g., a consumer or subscriber). The rights that may be purchased,i.e., obtained, may include rental or ownership rights to multimediaassets. The rights may include digital rights that may be restricted byuser, duration, number of playbacks, time/date of playback, playbacklocation, playback device, playback quality, copy or forward ability, orother limitations. Thus, as used herein, a “purchase”, a “purchasetransaction”, or a “purchase request” for an asset refers to obtainingcertain rights to the asset, which may or may not be unrestrictedownership rights.

The user may select and provide user input indicating a desire topurchase the selected asset using USF application 616. USF application616 may then initiate a purchase transaction, by obtaining billinginformation, and forward a purchase request, as described in detailabove. After receiving approval for the purchase of the asset, USFapplication 616 may provide the content of the electronic asset to theuser via at least one of IPTV access point 610, web access point 612,and mobile access point 614. In some instances, USF application 616provides access via a suitable interface based on the asset type. Forexample, IPTV-related assets may be provided via IPTV access point 610,an Internet asset may be available via web access point 612, and amobile asset may be available via mobile access point 614. In certainembodiments, electronic assets may be offered and/or made available byat least two of IPTV access point 610, web access point 612, and mobileaccess point 614.

Content management and aggregation module 604 may communicate with datawarehousing systems 608 via a plurality of communication links. Datawarehousing systems 608 may receive user data and content metadata,represented in FIG. 6 by 656. The user data may include demographic dataand purchase/consumption data. Data warehousing systems 608 may provideuser profiles 658, including content metadata user data indexed toindividual users.

As shown in FIG. 6, data warehousing systems 608 may include variousdata stores, or databases, including content metadata 680, userpurchase/consumption data 682, and user demographic data 684. Contentmetadata 680 may include information on multimedia content or assetsconsumed by subscribers or consumers, and may be indexed or categorizedfor various criteria, as described above. User purchase/consumption data682 may reflect purchase or consumption histories for users. Userdemographic data 684 may include user data, such as demographicinformation and geographic information. Databases 680, 682, 684 may beutilized to establish promotional offers, to identify users to whichpromotional offers should be made, to implement offer rules, identifycollections of multimedia content to recommend to users, or identifysubscriber groups for recommendations, among other uses. For example,recommendation engine 642 may access data warehousing systems 608 inorder to determine multimedia assets to include in a collection ofrecommended content provided to a user of USF application 616.

Referring to FIG. 7, a ladder diagram of an embodiment of method 700 forrecommending electronic assets is shown. Method 700 includes variousstages including logging stage 730, context stage 732, recommend stage734, and modify stage 736.

In connection with logging stage 730, a user may interact with the USFapplication 708 over time resulting in consumption information beinglogged by a data warehousing system. Interactions 750 from which dataare gathered may occur from any access point, such as STB/IPTV 702, webbrowser 704, and mobile wireless 706. In addition, interactions 750 mayrepresent voluntary demographic information provided by the user inresponse to a questionnaire, which may be accessible across any ofaccess points 702, 704, 706. The questionnaire may allow a user toprovide the following information: gender, age, preferred genres, genrefrequency, preferred content types, and other categories, as describedabove. The questionnaire may be provided to new users and may be updatedas desired, or on a regular basis.

Interactions 750 may be collected by commerce engine 710 to facilitatethe building of consumer/subscriber/user profiles by the datawarehousing system. The data warehousing system may log content metadata716 and user data 718, as described above (see FIG. 6). The datacaptured by the data warehousing system in a user profile may includecontent purchasing history, voluntary user demographics, browsinghistory, playback history, linear content viewing history, digital videorecorder (DVR) history, deletion history, and content metadata.

Recommendation engine 714 may further receive previously gathered userprofiles, including content metadata 716 and user data 718, shown inFIG. 7 as data 751. Data 751 may be used by recommendation engine 714 tofactor back into recommendations, such as collections of recommendedmultimedia content. In some instances, a portion of data 751 may bemaintained locally by recommendation engine 714 to improve performanceor for other reasons.

In connection with context stage 732, the real-time interaction of theuser with STB/IPTV 702 or an external web application may be used togenerate context information. Interaction 752 by the user in real-timemay be obtained for an external web application using web browser 704,while interaction 754 by the user in real-time may be obtained for anMCDN, represented by an MCDN client device, STP/IPTV 702. Interactions752, 754 may generate context information that is provided by USFapplication 708 to commerce engine 710. The relevant context informationmight include user account information, current content being viewed,current category being browsed, list of promotions viewed, searchcriteria, and other information. Commerce engine 710 may further providecontent metadata based on context information to service deliveryplatform (SDP) 712. Recommendation engine 714 may obtain real-timecontext data from SDP 712. In some embodiments, web browser 704 may beexecuted using a mobile/wireless platform 706 and may be used to collectreal-time user context data.

In connection with recommend stage 734, recommendation engine 714 mayreturn possible recommendations 756 to SDP 712. Recommendation engine714 may use previously gathered user data, such as collected byinteraction 750 and factored back as 751, along with real-timecontextual data, collected by interactions 752, 754, to generatepersonalized collections of recommended multimedia content. In certaininstances, recommendation engine 714 may return top lists, such as mostpurchased, most played, and highest rated, for users without anestablished profile or consumption history. The top lists may begenerated from a population of established users and may be categorizedaccording to voluntary demographic information provided by the receivinguser. Recommended content 758 may be returned by the SDP 712 to commerceengine 710 for forwarding to USF application 708, from where it may bepresented to the user. The SDP 712 may filter possible recommendations756 based on various criteria, for example, based on availability, userqualification, or a licensing/user rights matrix to generate recommendedcontent 758. USF application 708 may present recommended content 758 tothe user on any one or more access points 702, 704, 706, from wheremultimedia assets in the collection of recommended content 758 may beselected, purchased, and obtained for consumption by the user, accordingto the methods described herein.

In connection with modify stage 736, factor weighting configurations760, which lead to the generation of recommendations, may be modified inrecommendation engine 714. Modification of factor weightingconfigurations 760 may be performed by a service provider of MCDN system200 (see FIG. 2) to adjust or tune the effectiveness of therecommendation method 700, based on feedback, consumption metrics,revenue growth, etc.

Referring now to FIG. 8, a block diagram illustrating selected elementsof an embodiment of multimedia handling device (MHD) 825 is presented.In FIG. 8, MHD 825 is shown as a functional component of CPE 822 alongwith gateway (GW) 823 and display 826, independent of any physicalimplementation. In particular, it is noted that CPE 822 may be anycombination of GW 823, MHD 825 and display 826. In some cases, MHD 825represents an embodiment of an STB device.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 8, MHD 825 includes processor 801coupled via shared bus 802 to storage media collectively identified asstorage 810. MHD 825, as depicted in FIG. 8, further includes networkadapter 820 that interfaces MHD 825 to local area network (LAN) 824 andthrough which MHD 125 receives multimedia content 860. GW 823 is shownproviding a bridge between access network 830 and LAN 824, and receivingmultimedia content 860 from access network 830.

In embodiments suitable for use in IP based content delivery networks,MHD 825, as depicted in FIG. 8, may include transport unit 830 thatassembles the payloads from a sequence or set of network packets into astream of multimedia content. In coaxial based access networks, contentmay be delivered as a stream that is not packet based and it may not benecessary in these embodiments to include transport unit 830. In aco-axial implementation, however, clients, such as CPE 822, may utilizetuning resources (not explicitly depicted in FIG. 8) to “filter” desiredcontent from other content that is delivered over the coaxial mediumsimultaneously and these tuners may be provided in MHDs 825. The streamof multimedia content received by transport unit 830 may include audioinformation and video information and transport unit 830 may parse orsegregate the two to generate video stream 832 and audio stream 834 asshown.

Video and audio streams 832 and 834, as output from transport unit 830,may include audio or video information that is compressed, encrypted, orboth. A decoder unit 840 is shown as receiving video and audio streams832 and 834 and generating native format video and audio streams 842 and844. Decoder 840 may employ any of various widely distributed videodecoding algorithms including any of the Motion Pictures Expert Group(MPEG) standards, or Windows Media Video (WMV) standards including WMV9, which has been standardized as Video Codec-1 (VC-1) by the Society ofMotion Picture and Television Engineers. Similarly decoder 840 mayemploy any of various audio decoding algorithms including Dolby®Digital, Digital Theatre System (DTS) Coherent Acoustics, and WindowsMedia Audio (WMA).

The native format video and audio streams 842 and 844 as shown in FIG. 8may be processed by encoders/digital-to-analog converters(encoders/DACs) 850 and 870 respectively to produce analog video andaudio signals 852 and 854 in a format compliant with display 826, whichitself may not be a part of MHD 825. Display 826 may comply withNational Television System Committee (NTSC), Phase Alternating Line(PAL) or any other suitable television standard.

Storage 810 encompasses persistent and volatile media, fixed andremovable media, and magnetic and semiconductor media. Storage 810 isoperable to store instructions, data, or both. Storage 810 as shown mayinclude sets or sequences of instructions, namely, an operating system812, a remote control (RC) application program identified as RC module814, an electronic programming guide (EPG) 816, and USF 818. Operatingsystem 812 may be a UNIX or UNIX-like operating system, a Windows®family operating system, or another suitable operating system.

EPG 816 represents a guide to the multimedia content provided to CPE 822via MCDN system 200 (see FIG. 2), and may be shown to the user as anelement of the user interface. The user interface may include aplurality of menu items arranged according to one or more menu layouts,which enable a user to operate MHD 825. The user may operate the userinterface, including EPG 816, using remote control 220, 228 (see FIG. 2)in conjunction with RC module 814.

Turning now to FIG. 9, an embodiment of method 900 for recommendingmultimedia content is shown in flowchart form. In some examples, method900 may be performed by a recommendation engine, such as recommendationengine 642 (see FIG. 6). In certain embodiments, operations depicted inmethod 900 may be rearranged or omitted, or may be optional.

Consumption information associated with multimedia content provided overthe MCDN and collected for a plurality of consumers may be retrieved(operation 902). The consumption information may be collected andaggregated for the plurality of consumers using a data warehousingsystem. The consumption information may be collected over apredetermined time period. The consumption information may be used togenerate a collection of multimedia content, including at least oneobtainable asset (operation 904). The collection may be based onpersonalized preferences generated using the consumption information.The collection may also be based on rankings for multimedia assets bythe plurality of consumers, such as most purchased, most viewed, andhighest rated.

The collection may be offered to a user having a registered MCDN accountusing a USF application (operation 906). The offered collection may bemade available to the user using the USF application via web portal,IPTV portal, mobile portal, or a combination thereof (operation 908). Adecision may then be made if user input to purchase rights in amultimedia asset has been received (operation 910). If the result of thedecision is NO, then method 900 loops back to operation 910. If theresult of the decision is YES, then a multimedia asset from the offeredcollection may be selected for a purchase request (operation 912). Thepurchase request may be submitted while billing information may bereceived by the USF application, and approval for the purchase requestmay be received (operation 914). The user may be provided access to themultimedia asset from the USF application via web portal, IPTV portal,mobile portal, or a combination thereof (operation 916).

Turning now to FIG. 10, an embodiment of method 1000 for recommendingmultimedia content is shown in flowchart form. In some examples, method1000 may be performed by a CPE, such as CPE 822 (see FIG. 8). In certainembodiments, operations depicted in method 1000 may be rearranged oromitted, or may be optional.

A collection of recommended multimedia content, including an obtainableasset, may be received (operation 1002). The collection may be based onpersonalized preferences generated using the consumption information.The collection may also be based on rankings for multimedia assets bythe plurality of consumers, such as most purchased, most viewed, andhighest rated. The collection may be offered to a user of the CPE havinga registered MCDN account (operation 1004). The offered collection maybe made available to the user via an Internet website, a mobile wirelessnetwork platform, or a combination thereof (operation 1006). Consumptioninformation may be collected at the CPE and made available to an MCDNserver that aggregates consumption information for a plurality ofclients (operation 1008).

A decision may then be made if user input to purchase rights in amultimedia asset has been received (operation 1010). If the result ofthe decision is NO, then method 1000 loops back to operation 1010. Ifthe result of the decision is YES, then the purchase of a multimediaasset from the offered collection may be initiated (operation 1012). Apurchase request may be submitted, including billing information, andapproval for the purchase request may be received (operation 1014). Theuser may be provided access to the multimedia asset from the CPE client,and an Internet website, a mobile wireless network device, or acombination thereof (operation 1016).

To the maximum extent allowed by law, the scope of the presentdisclosure is to be determined by the broadest permissibleinterpretation of the following claims and their equivalents, and shallnot be restricted or limited to the specific embodiments described inthe foregoing detailed description.

What is claimed is:
 1. A content recommendation method, comprising:retrieving, by a set top box, consumption information collected for aplurality of consumers, wherein the consumption information is:associated with multimedia content available from a multimedia serviceprovider; and indicative of most demanded multimedia assets; obtainingcontextual information indicative of at least one of: current browsing,current viewing, current recording, and current network accountactivity; generating a collection of recommended multimedia contentbased on: the contextual information; the consumption information; andmultimedia asset rankings indicative of at least one of: most purchasedmultimedia assets; and most viewed multimedia assets; making thecollection accessible to a user via at least one of: a web portal, a settop box portal provided by the service provider, and a mobile portal;and providing the user access to a particular multimedia asset selectedfrom the collection by the user via at least one of the web portal, theset top box portal, and the mobile portal.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein generating the collection includes generating the collectionbased on a portion of the consumption information selected based on acurrent time and day and geographical location of the user.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the multimedia content ratings includeratings provided by at least some of the plurality of consumers.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the consumption information comprisesconsumption information collected over a predefined time span.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the collection includes content selectedbased, at least in part, on the content's inclusion of interactivefeatures including polls, games, and product information queries.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the collection includes content selectedbased, at least in part, on a length of service the user has subscribedto the service provider of the user.
 7. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: filtering the collection based on availability.
 8. A set topbox, comprising: a processor; and a network interface configured toconnect to a multimedia content distribution network; a computerreadable medium including stored, processor executable instructionsthat, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to performoperations comprising: retrieving consumption information collected fora plurality of consumers, wherein the consumption information is:associated with multimedia content available from a multimedia serviceprovider; and indicative of most demanded multimedia assets; obtainingcontextual information indicative of at least one of: current browsing,current viewing, current recording, and current network accountactivity; generating a collection of recommended multimedia contentbased on: the contextual information; the consumption information; andmultimedia asset rankings indicative of at least one of: most purchasedmultimedia assets; and most viewed multimedia assets; making thecollection accessible to a user via the set top box; and providing theuser access to a particular multimedia asset selected from thecollection by the user via the set top box.
 9. The set top box of claim8, wherein generating the collection includes generating the collectionbased on a portion of the consumption information selected based on acurrent time and day and geographical location of the user.
 10. The settop box of claim 8, wherein the multimedia content ratings includeratings provided by at least some of the plurality of consumers.
 11. Theset top box of claim 8, wherein the consumption information comprisesconsumption information collected over a predefined time span.
 12. Theset top box of claim 8, wherein the collection includes content selectedbased, at least in part, on the content's inclusion of interactivefeatures including polls, games, and product information queries. 13.The set top box of claim 8, wherein the collection includes contentselected based, at least in part, on a length of service the user hassubscribed to the service provider of the user.
 14. The set top box ofclaim 8, further comprising: filtering the collection based onavailability.
 15. A computer-readable memory including stored, processorexecutable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause theprocessor to perform operations comprising: retrieving consumptioninformation collected for a plurality of consumers, wherein theconsumption information is: associated with multimedia content availablefrom a multimedia service provider; and indicative of most demandedmultimedia assets; obtaining contextual information indicative of atleast one of: current browsing, current viewing, current recording, andcurrent network account activity; generating a collection of recommendedmultimedia content based on: the contextual information; the consumptioninformation; and multimedia asset rankings indicative of at least oneof: most purchased multimedia assets; and most viewed multimedia assets;making the collection accessible to a user via a set top box; andproviding the user access to a particular multimedia asset selected fromthe collection by the user via the set top box.
 16. Thecomputer-readable memory of claim 15, wherein generating the collectionincludes generating the collection based on a portion of the consumptioninformation selected based on a current time and day and geographicallocation of the user, wherein the multimedia content ratings includeratings provided by at least some of the plurality of consumers.
 17. Thecomputer-readable memory of claim 15, wherein the consumptioninformation comprises consumption information collected over apredefined time span.
 18. The computer-readable memory of claim 15,wherein the collection includes content selected based, at least inpart, on the content's inclusion of interactive features includingpolls, games, and product information queries.
 19. The computer-readablememory of claim 15, wherein the collection includes content selectedbased, at least in part, on a length of service the user has subscribedto the service provider of the user.
 20. The computer-readable memory ofclaim 15, further comprising: filtering the collection based onavailability.